Friday, April 24, 2009

Landmark divorce case gets 'urgent' treatment

April 21, 2009 08:29 AM - A Mississauga teen will celebrate his 19th birthday this week without his brothers, as legal wrangling continues over his request to see his 12- and 14-year-old siblings in a divorce case gone out of control.Lawyers in the complex case — one of the most controversial cases of parental alienation to be dealt with by the courts — have been urged by a judge to "clear the decks" so that the teen's legal request can be "treated with urgency."The case will be back before Justice Steven Clark of the Ontario Court of Justice on April 30, when the teen's lawyer will ask to have the case moved out of Brampton court and into another jurisdiction. The teen was recently granted standing by Clark, the first step in seeking custody of his two brothers, who have been in foster care since last December. He wants to raise his brothers in his father's bare-bones, two-bedroom apartment, but has said he will move out if necessary and sue both parents for support, even though his father has not worked in years.The mother maintains that her eldest son is being used by her ex-husband to get custody of all three boys through a back door. She has accused the father of a decade-long campaign to turn the boys against her, with the teen's help.Last November, the boys spent five months in a psychiatric ward, then were placed in a Mississauga foster home after they refused to undergo treatment for parental alienation. They said they feared being turned into "zombies" through the controversial U.S.-based Family Workshop for Alienated Children run by forensic psychologist Randy Rand.The mother has said she will not force the boys into Rand treatment, but would rather get them some kind of counselling that is more home-based.The mother is appealing the teen's request for standing and has made it clear she wants him kept away from his siblings. She also wants the media barred from the proceedings. Landmark divorce case gets 'urgent' treatment - The Mississauga News - Mississauga.comREFRESH - Go to Home-Page